Man jailed for breaking into University of Windsor dorm rooms

A 44-year-old Windsor man was sentenced today to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to breaking into University of Windsor dorm rooms last month.

Wayne Bradley was on parole for an unrelated matter around 5 a.m. on Oct. 7 when the incidents began at the school’s MacDonald Hall residence on Huron Church Road. The court heard that a female student returned home to find a man leaning up against the swipe pad. When she asked him to move, he said, “I promise you, I’m not a wierdo.”

When she went into the building the man followed. She took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, and phoned police. After using the bathroom, she returned to her sixth-floor room to find the man standing at the foot of her room mate’s bed. The woman ran into the hall screaming.

The room mate then woke up to see the man fleeing the room.

Another student reported that later that morning a man opened the door to her room, as well, but when she said hello he said, “Sorry,” and closed the door. A male student also reported that while he was lying in his bed a man opened his dorm room door but then closed it.

Bradley was seen on surveillance video moving through the building.

When police arrested Bradley two days later at his home he was wearing the same clothes. He initially told police he was looking for a bathroom.

Ontario Court Justice Guy DeMarco sentenced Bradley, who has a criminal record, to begin serving this sentence after he finishes his current unrelated break-and-enter sentence. DeMarco also ordered Bradley to submit a DNA sample and sentenced him to 18 months probation, during which time he is banned from the University of Windsor west-end campus.

“It would be a very scary thing to have a strange person in your bedroom,” DeMarco said.

Bradley’s 18-month sentence is in addition to 22 days pre-trial custody. Assistant Crown attorney Shelley McGuire asked for 18 months probation, on top of the jail time, while defence lawyer Rae-Anne Copat asked for 12 months probation beyond the jail term.

“Given his record he knows he could have been facing a lot more time,” said Copat, who noted that her client has had difficulties since his parents died. “He has struggled.”

Copat pointed out that though Bradley opened the door to three dorm rooms, “there was no actual threat of violence.”

Dressed in a green-and-white jacket in court, Bradley declined comment when DeMarco gave him the opportunity.

Yet another hangman’s noose – a third – was found inside FCA Canada's Windsor Assembly Plant on Monday night, says a union boss who represents the majority of the workers involved with a $2-billion revamp of the minivan factory.